NewsScan Daily, 13 January 2004 ("Above The Fold")

NewsScan Daily, 13 January 2004 ("Above The Fold")
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"ABOVE THE FOLD"
       High-Tech China: Will It Throw Its Weight Around?
       Judge Prefers Paperwork to Electronic Filings
       Legal Defense Fund Formed to Ward Off Lawsuits From SCO
       Patently Absurd?
       VeriSign Wins Contract to Oversee RFID Tags

FEATURES
       Flash Card
       Worth Thinking About: Emotional Design

HIGH-TECH CHINA: WILL IT THROW ITS WEIGHT AROUND?
China's moves to expand its technology industries are leading to new trade
tensions with the United States. Bruce P. Mehlman of the industry group
Computer Systems Policy Project wonders whether China will "take a more
global, market-based approach, or will it try to change the rules and
disadvantage others?" The projects at issue include development of Chinese
software standards for wireless computers, the introduction of exclusive
technology formats for future generations of cell phones and DVD players,
and tax policies that favor computer chips made in China. Ann Rollins of the
Information Technology Industry Council explains, "Having a different
standard from the rest of the world fractures the market. The implications
of this are dangerous going forward." (New York Times 13 Jan 2004)
http://partners.nytimes.com/2004/01/13/technology/13china.html

JUDGE PREFERS PAPERWORK TO ELECTRONIC FILINGS
A judge in California has ruled that consumers cannot use the Web to file
for their shares of a $1.1 billion class-action settlement against
Microsoft. The Web site in question, MsfreePC.com, was developed by Lindows,
a Microsoft rival.  Microsoft argued that the site violated "the integrity
of the claims process" (by accepting digital signatures), and the judge
agreed. Lindows chief executive Michael Robertson countered: "Microsoft's
claim that digital signatures are valid when used to sell their software but
not when it costs them money is pure hypocrisy. Their true intentions are
not to remedy their abusive pricing policies but simply to escape financial
redress to Californians."(AP/Washington Post 12 Jan 2004)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11557-2004Jan12.html

LEGAL DEFENSE FUND FORMED TO WARD OFF LAWSUITS FROM SCO
The Open Source Development Labs, a coalition of high-tech companies
(including IBM and Intel) is raising money for a fund to defend Linux users
who are sued by SCO, which claims that the Linux operating system contains
its proprietary Unix software code. The coalition's chief executive, Stuart
Cohen, says that as the threats of lawsuits "got louder and louder from SCO,
we thought this was the next logical step for us. We don't want the noise
level to get to a point where it would slow down the momentum of Linux."
SCO's response: "The actions of these vendors today doesn't change the fact
that SCO's intellectual property is being found in Linux." Mark Radcliffe,
an attorney specializing in intellectual property, says of the fund's
creation: "It's a pretty smart move because the biggest threat to Linux has
always been that some large user might roll over and decide to settle with
SCO just to save money. Having a defense fund will likely give users more
comfort. (San Jose Mercury News 13 Jan 2004)
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/7698083.htm

PATENTLY ABSURD?
A number of industry and government officials have come to the conclusion
that the U.S. patent system has become absurd -- especially in fields such
as computers, software and biotechnology. Intellectual property attorney
Mark Banner says: "Very bad patents are getting through. It's draining
millions of dollars that could be spent on finding a better mousetrap." Yet
the current system has its defenders. Jon Dudas of the Patent Office insists
that most patents are valid, and Jay Walker (whose company patented the
"reverse auction") argues: "We as a nation are ahead of the rest of the
world because we have strong property rights. Everybody said you couldn't
have patents on electricity. Guess what? They were wrong." Others in the
debate take the position that the problem with the patent system is not that
it's unfair but that it's irrelevant: software executive Jordan Greenhall
says: "If you didn't have any patents at all, people would still be doing
the same stuff because of the speed of the marketplace." (USA Today 13 Jan
2004)
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2004-01-13-patentscover_x.htm

VERISIGN WINS CONTRACT TO OVERSEE RFID TAGS
VeriSign, the company that manages the Internet's domain name system, has
been awarded a contract to perform a similar role in the developing system
for radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags that replace bar codes as
product identifiers on consumer goods. The selection of VeriSign was made by
EPCglobal, a standard-setting group jointly run by EAN International and the
Uniform Code Council (the same entities that manage the network of product
bar codes). EPCglobal says it chose VeriSign because of its worldwide reach
and ability to handle millions of Internet transactions at once. (AP/Los
Angeles Times 13 Jan 2004)
http://www.latimes.com/technology/ats-ap_technology10jan13,1,2644717.story?c
oll=sns-ap-toptechnology

*****

FLASH CARD 
     "All charming people have something to conceal, usually their total
dependence on the appreciation of others." (Cyril Connolly)

WORTH THINKING ABOUT: EMOTIONAL DESIGN
     Donald A. Norman -- computer scientist, psychologist, design
consultant, and author -- has done it again, with his brilliant new book
called "Emotional Design," in which he examines the vastly underestimated
role of emotion on our experience of everyday objects. Don (who, by the way,
has been one of NewsScan's best friends) explains:
     "Emotion is a necessary part of life, affecting how we feel, how we
behave and think. Indeed, emotion makes us smart. Sure, utility and
usability are important, but without fun and pleasure, joy and excitement,
and yes, anxiety and anger, fear and rage, our lives would be incomplete.
     "Human beings have evolved over millions of years to function
effectively in the rich and complex environment of the world. Our perceptual
systems, our limbs, the motor system -- which means the control of all our
muscles -- everything has evolved to make us more function more effectively
in the world. Affect, emotion, and cognition have also evolved to interact
with and complement one another. Cognition interprets the world, leading to
increased understanding and knowledge. Affect, which includes emotion, is a
system of judgment: good or bad, safe or dangerous. It makes value
judgments, the better to survive. Cognition and affect
-- understanding and evaluation. Together they form a powerful team.
     "Because emotion is so essential to survival, they will be equally
essential for the artificial machines -- robots -- that are designed to work
autonomously, intelligently, without supervision for months or even years.
Just as animals and people need emotions for survival and learning, so too
will machines -- not human emotions, but emotions relevant to machine life.
That's the argument presented in the last two chapters of "Emotional
Design."
     "The major thrust is about product design. An attractive design is not
necessarily the most efficient. But must these attributes be in conflict?
Sure, utility and usability are important, but without fun and pleasure, joy
and excitement, and yes, anxiety and anger, fear and rage, our lives would
be incomplete. Along with emotions, there is one other point as well:
aesthetics, attractiveness and beauty.
     "Beauty is important for our lives: beauty in our environment, in our
surroundings, in our actions, and yes, in the products we buy and use.
Beauty and brains, pleasure and usability -- they should go hand in hand.
That's the message of 'Emotional Design.'"
                                ***
See 
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0465051359/newsscancom/ref=nos
im for Donald A. Norman's "Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday
Things" -- or look for it in your favorite library. (We donate all revenue
from our book or other recommendations to literacy action programs.)

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